


Stress Relief

by brionylarkin



Series: Drove (Them) Underground [5]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: But it's fluff I swear, Five lowkey has a crush on Dave, Fluff, Gen, Ghost David "Dave" Katz, Good Sibling Klaus Hargreeves, Heaping Piles of Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, No Incest, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, POV Number Five | The Boy, Protective Klaus Hargreeves, Sibling Bonding, but he isn't going to think about it, i guess, yeah he's still dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:55:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26353018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brionylarkin/pseuds/brionylarkin
Summary: No, Five wasn't stressed at all, why’d you ask?
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz, Number Five | The Boy & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: Drove (Them) Underground [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1296161
Comments: 8
Kudos: 204





	Stress Relief

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow, not one person commented on this in its original context, so I’m shining a light on it myself. The question: how did Klaus hold Five down long enough to paint his nails in Can’t Go, Won’t Go? The short answer: he didn’t.  
> This'll still mostly make sense without reading the rest of the series, but the context will definitely make it more enjoyable. Your call.

There were crashing sounds coming from the room next door. Five pulled his head out from under his pillow, blinking blearily at the wall, vaguely curious as only the truly exhausted could be. He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. And, if he wiped some drool off his face while he was at it, then that was his business. 

It was Klaus and Diego’s room, that much was obvious when Five woke up a bit more. Of the two, Five could comfortably rule out Diego, as he wasn’t someone who would make noise in the middle of the night. Klaus on the other hand…

Five narrowed his eyes and practically threw his blankets off in his haste to get to the door. He slammed the door open and stormed into the other room. 

“Klaus,” he said, staring at his shocked brother. “What are you  _ doing _ ?”

“Uh,” Klaus said, eyes darting around the room nervously. “Redecorating?” He sent Five a sheepish smile, gesturing to the overturned dresser. 

“Why.” Five rubbed his temples, trying hard not to lose his temper. “Are you doing this in the middle of the night?”

“Uh, Five, buddy,” Klaus said, staring at him incredulously. “It’s three in the afternoon.”

“What?” Five said, staring at Klaus, confused. “No, it’s not.”

“Yeah, it is, buddy,” said Klaus, deliberately slowly. He stood up and opened his blinds, revealing the bright midday sun that Five had somehow been avoiding. 

“ _ What _ .” Five blinked several times fast. 

Klaus glanced down at his brother’s sleep-rumpled clothes. “Did you just wake up?” 

“I--” Five cut himself off to rub his eyes. “I must’ve been up later than I thought.” He tried in vain to straighten his pajamas into something a little more dignified. 

“What were you  _ doing _ ?” asked Klaus. He tilted his head to the side, listening to someone Five couldn’t see, presumably either Dave or Ben. “Until six AM?”

“I-” Five crossed his arms almost self-consciously. “If you must know, I was checking the equations for tomorrow.”

“Again?” Klaus said, letting out a sigh. “Five, you’ve checked those, what, a million times now? At least? You’ve done all you can do.”

Five scrubbed at his eyes again. “Just forget it.” He turned to leave the room. “I need to get back to work.”

“Wait!” Klaus cried, reaching towards Five. He pushed himself upright and sent a desperate glance around the room. “Um, I could use some help?” 

“Is that a question or a request?” Five asked, raising an eyebrow. When Klaus hesitated, he rolled his eyes. “I’m going to get something to eat.”

“Good, good,” Klaus muttered to himself as he trailed after Five into the kitchen. 

Five immediately filled and turned on the coffee maker, then pulled a frying pan down from a hook on the wall. 

“Make yourself useful and grab the eggs,” he directed. 

Klaus did as he was told. “As long as you don’t eat them raw like Diego,” he said, handing Five the carton out of the fridge. 

Five snorted, then replied slightly haughtily. “Of course not. I’m not an animal.”

Klaus let out a loud bark of a laugh, then jumped up to sit on the counter. He watched as Five carefully sliced up a few vegetables.

“What are you making?”

“An omelet,” Five muttered in return. Klaus opened his mouth, but Five interrupted him. “Yes, I’ll make you one, too.”

Klaus pumped his fist in triumph and leaned over to snatch a piece of pepper. Narrowly avoiding Five’s angry swat, Klaus crunched down on his prize. 

“Keep doing that and I’ll take one of your fingers.”

Klaus scoffed. “As if. You love me too much for that.”

Five rolled his eyes but didn’t deny it, and the kitchen was silent for a moment, only the chopping of the knife against the cutting board to be heard. Five peeked at Klaus out of the corner of his eye.

“Is Ben here?” he asked quietly, looking back at where he was cracking eggs into a bowl.

Klaus zoned back into the conversation. “Hmm? Oh! No, he and Dave are having one of their secret ghost conversations.” He rolled his eyes good-naturedly. “Why?”

“No reason,” Five was quick to answer, appearing engrossed in his food as he poured the egg mixture into the pan.

Klaus gave his brother a searching look, then turned to pull two plates out of the cabinet. After a moment’s thought, he also pulled down two glasses and set about filling them with the orange juice he took from the fridge. 

“You know, it’s okay to be nervous,” Klaus said, handing his brother the plates and setting the cups on the table. 

Five scoffed. “I’m not  _ nervous _ .” 

Klaus sent him a disbelieving look and Five whirled around, brandishing his spoon as a weapon. 

“I’m not!” He defended himself. “I’m just… cautious!”

“Cautious,” Klaus repeated. “That’s why you’re up until six AM two days before we stop Ben from dying? Because you’re  _ cautious _ ?” 

“Irrelevant,” Five muttered, turning back around. He used a spatula to flip the omelet onto itself, then slid it onto the closest plate. Klaus accepted the offering with glee, letting the conversation go for a moment as he dug in with his fork. 

The coffee machine finished right as Five started pouring more of the egg mixture into the pan. He looked up at the ‘ding!’ but turned his attention back towards stopping his food from burning. 

“You stare at the pan any harder, it’s going to catch on fire,” Klaus said, startling Five from where he’d zoned out. Klaus presented him with a cup of coffee, which Five nearly snatched from his hands. 

“Allison will be  _ pissed  _ if we set the kitchen on fire again,” Klaus continued, not acknowledging Five’s near show of aggression. He put his empty plate in the sink. “Though, I still say it was Ben’s fault. He distracted me.”

“How did he distract you?” Five found himself asking, allowing Klaus’s inane story to occupy his thoughts. 

“Well—” Klaus launched into a convoluted story that Five mostly tuned out. Five placed his coffee down as he transferred his food onto a plate, then picked both up to move to the table.

Klaus followed, sitting down across from his brother as he finished his story. “And that’s why Allison won’t let me cook anymore. Well, Ben won’t let me either, but I’m more scared of her.” He stopped talking and stared at Five. 

Five stopped mechanically shoveling food into his mouth to give his brother a flat stare. “What.”

“Give me your hand,” Klaus ordered, holding his own out. Five rolled his eyes, but complied, perfectly able to eat one-handed. Klaus made a ‘hmm’ noise and began to examine Five’s nails. 

Five put his fork down to finish off his coffee, then picked it back up to spear the last piece of food on his plate. 

Without looking up, Klaus nudged Five’s glass of orange juice towards him. Five cursed his siblings’ concern for him even as he admitted to himself that he did like orange juice. He picked up the glass with his free hand. 

“Can I paint your nails?” Klaus asked, causing Five to choke on his juice. 

Five coughed. “What?”

Klaus looked at him as if he was stupid. “Can I paint your nails? They’re so sad right now, all pale and…” He turned Five’s hand over to get a closer look. “Are you biting them?” 

Five yanked his hand back and stood, gathering his dishes to bring to the sink. “No. I have too much work to do.”

“Please?” Klaus whined. “I’m bored, you’re stressed! It’s a solution for both of us.”

“I am  _ not  _ stressed,” Five gritted out, slamming his plate down into the sink with a loud crash. “I just—”

“Five!” Klaus gasped, suddenly right behind him. Five turned, ready to tell him off, but was gently stopped by Klaus’s hands on his shoulders. 

“Five, you cut yourself,” he said, gesturing towards the sink. Five looked down, suddenly noticing the small splatters of blood on the inside of the sink. He had broken the plate. 

“Oh,” he said quietly, allowing his brother to carefully lead him to the table and sit him down. 

“It’s not that bad,” Klaus said quietly, examining Five’s hand for the second time in ten minutes. He reached back to grab a paper towel off the counter. “Does it hurt?” He gently patted the small cut, soaking up the drops of blood remaining around it. 

“Not really,” Five muttered, shame filling his chest. Ben could die in a day and here he was, being coddled like a child. “I’m fine.”

Klaus gave him a deadpan look. “Clearly you’re not, so I don’t wanna hear it.” He twisted his head around to look at whichever ghost had just popped in. “Five broke a plate.” A pause as Klaus returned to cleaning Five’s hand. “Nah, our little rascal’ll be fine. It’s just a scratch. Hey, can you grab a band aid?” Even as Klaus continued to clean Five’s injury, his hands glowed blue.

Behind him, Dave appeared and sent Five a friendly smile. Try as he might, Dave was too likable for Five to ever truly be annoyed at him. Trust Klaus to use that fact against him. 

Dave returned with the box of band aids, pulling out one of the plain ones over Klaus’s complaints. 

“But, baby, that’s so boring!” Klaus said even as he unwrapped it and put it on Five’s cut. “At least the colorful ones are fun.” 

“I don’t think Five would appreciate the fun ones,” Dave replied, putting the box back in the cabinet. He walked back to run his hand through Klaus’s hair. “I’m pretty sure Luther only got them for you anyway.”

“Luther’s boring,” Klaus said but didn’t argue. He leaned back in his chair once he was sure the cut was totally covered.

“Are you feeling okay, Five?” Dave asked, all sweet and earnest. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Five muttered, not able to hold even the weakest of glares. Instead, his eyes found the sink. “I still need to wash the dishes.” 

Klaus scoffed. “What you need is to relax a little. Take a load off once in a while!” He stood up and ushered Five to his feet and into the hallway. 

Five put up a token protest, but soon found himself sitting on Klaus’s bed while Klaus and Dave struggled to right the dresser. Klaus’s hands glowed brighter and, suddenly, Dave was able to power through. Klaus popped the missing drawer back in and the room was as good as new. 

“Why was it on the floor in the first place?” Five asked dryly. 

“That, my dear brother,” Klaus answered, dropping onto his bed with a flourish. “Is a secret I shall never tell.”

Dave chuckled and Klaus whipped around to stare at him, an accusatory finger already pointed. “I  _ will  _ take away privileges!” 

“Aw, come on, sunshine! It wasn’t that embarrassing.” Dave turned to Five and disappeared along with the glow around Klaus’s hands. 

Five hid a snort behind his hand, watching Klaus hiss threats at nothing. 

“Klaus, I have seen you do much more embarrassing things then knock a dresser over,” Five reminded his brother. “Case in point.” He gestured to Klaus. “What you’re doing right now.”

Klaus looked over at Five, narrowing his eyes. “Exactly! You already have too much blackmail against me.”

Five just stared back at him incredulously. “Who am I gonna tell, dumbass? Everyone we know is related to us.”

That stopped Klaus’s arguing before it left even his mouth. “Oh.” He let himself fall backwards with a groan. “That’s fair, I guess. Continue.” 

Klaus’s hands lit up and Dave came into being next to the bed, looking amused. The amusement turned into glee as soon as he realized he was visible. 

“Klaus wanted to switch drawers with Diego,” he said, gesturing to his boyfriend. “Ben and I refused to help because we’re scared of Diego.”

“How can you be scared of him?!” Klaus burst out, popping upright. “You’re both literally dead! I don’t understand what he’s going to do to you.”

“It’s the disappointed look, Klaus,” Dave answered mournfully. “It’s too powerful.” 

“Diego does have a very strong disappointed look,” Five said, hand rubbing his chin in faux thought. 

“Yeah, he learned it from Grace,” Klaus muttered sulkily before regaining his energy with a frustrated noise. “But that’s not the  _ point _ .”

Dave took the hint to get back on track with a laugh. “The drawer was pretty stuck in there, so instead of just emptying it out like a normal person, Klaus pulled it out super roughly and the whole thing came toppling down on top of him.”

“I could have died,” Klaus said, crossing his arms with a huff. “All because of Diego’s stupid labeled drawer.”

“Aren’t…  _ you  _ the one who labeled the drawers?” Five asked pointedly, causing Klaus to hiss at him. 

Five hid another laugh, unwilling to admit that he could already feel himself calming down from his stress-induced mania. There was no need to inflate Klaus’s head any bigger than it already was.

“I must let you go, darling,” Klaus was telling Dave, light already beginning to dissipate from his hands. “Need to save my strength for tomorrow.” 

Dave leaned in to peck Klaus on the cheek, then turned to Five as he faded. “See you later, Five.” His smile was the last thing to go, rather like the cat from that children’s movie Allison had forced everyone to watch a few months before.

Five wondered if Klaus did that on purpose.

“Now.” Klaus clapped his hands together with a grin that immediately had Five preparing to run. “Blue or green?”

“What?” 

~~~~~~

By the time the others arrived home from their various jobs and errands, Five’s and Klaus’s toes were a matching dark blue. 

Five was only a little annoyed about Allison cooing over them.


End file.
